Uniworld River Cruise Travel Insurance - 2024 Review

Background

Uniworld positions itself as a boutique river cruise line. Their itineraries include Europe, Russia, Asia, India and Egypt. Most recently they’ve added new ships in France and Italy. They focus on an all-inclusive, luxury guest experience and score some of the highest scores of any cruise line (river or ocean) on customer satisfaction polls due to their service, imaginative itineraries, ship design and gourmet food.

Our Uniworld River Cruise: Enchanting Danube

For our review, our sample couple, ages 55 and 60, selected “Enchanting Danube” an 8-day river cruise from Budapest to Passau from March 13, 2022 – March 20, 2022.

The trip cost for both travelers is $$6,798 which included a $1,000 discount per traveler. Airfare is not included. As airfare cost vary, we will only be considering the actual cruise costs for this review.

At checkout we were given the option to purchase travel insurance. Two options are available: The Standard Plan and the Plus Plan.

The Travel Protection Plus Plan is $559 per person while the Travel Protection Standard Plan in $399 per person. Coverages for both are below:

Both plans provide only $25,000 of medical coverage and $100,000 of medical evacuation coverage. The Plus Plan adds a Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) benefit which provides a 60% refund of trip costs, 20% in future cruise credits and the balance is non-refundable.

The Standard plan would be $798 for both travelers while the Plus Plan would be $1,118 for both travelers. As this pricing seems excessive for the coverage provided, let’s see if we can find better options in the open marketplace.

Comparison Quotes

Based on our sample couple, ages 55 and 60, we created comparison quotes using TravelDefenders travel insurance marketplace engine. The trip cost used for the comparison is the cruise cost for both travelers of $6,798.

TravelDefenders recommends having at least $100,000 Medical Insurance and $250,000 Emergency Medical Evacuation when traveling outside the US. The least expensive policy with that benefit limit AIG Travel Guard Plus at $213.08 total cost for both travelers. The AIG Travel Guard Plus policy includes $100,000 for Medical Insurance and $1,000,000 for Medical Evacuation. A Pre-Existing Medical Condition Exclusion Waiver is also included if you purchase the policy within 21 days of your initial trip payment or deposit. While providing more coverage than the Uniworld Travel Protection Standard Plan, it is also over $485 LESS than the Uniworld Standard Plan!

To compare with the Uniworld Plus Plan which provides a Cancel For Any Reason benefit, the least expensive Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) plan in our quote from AARDY is the John Hancock Silver (CFAR 75%).

You’d save $551 with the John Hancock plan over the Uniworld Plus Plan and it provides a higher coverage than Uniworld with $100,000 in medical coverage and $500,000 in medical evacuation coverage. It also provides a 75% refund in cash of the non-refundable trip costs instead of just a 60% refund from Uniworld’s Plus Plan.

Next, we broke down the benefits of each policy in a side-by-side comparison

Benefit	Uniworld  Travel Protection Standard Plan	Uniworld  Travel Protection Plus Plan	AIG Travel Guard Plus	John Hancock Silver (CFAR 75%)
Trip Cancellation	100% of trip cost	100% of trip cost	100% of trip cost	100% of trip cost
Trip Interruption	150% of trip cost	150% of trip cost	150% of trip cost	150% of trip cost
Medical Insurance	$25,000	$25,000	$100,000	$100,000
Medical Evacuation	$100,000	$100,000	$1,000,000	$500,000
Baggage Loss/Damage	$2,500	$2,500	$2,500 per person	$1,000 per person
Baggage Delay	$500	$500	$400	$500
Travel Delay	$1,500 ($150/day)	$1,500 ($150/day)	$1000 ($200/day)	$750 ($150/day)
Missed Connection	0	0	$1,000 per person	$750 per person
Cover Pre-existing Medical Conditions	Yes, if purchased within 14 days of deposit	Yes, if purchased within 14 days of deposit	Yes, if purchased within 21 days of deposit	Yes, if purchased within 14 days of deposit
Cancel For Work Reason	No	No	No	No
Cancel For Any Reason	No	Yes	No	Yes
Accidental Death & Dismemberment	$25,000	$25,000	$50,000	$100,000
Cost of Policy	$798.00 (11.7% of trip cost)	$896 (16.4% of trip cost)	$312.08 (4.6% of trip cost)	$567.00 (8.3% of trip cost)

Both the AIG Travel Guard Plus and John Hancock Silver (CFAR 75%) provide more coverage than the Uniworld plans and with significant cost savings. This additional savings could be used for additional excursions, shopping, or other adventures.

What should travelers be looking for when choosing a travel insurance policy? Let’s take a look.

Trip Cancellation

A significant concern for travelers is Trip Cancellation. If you became ill or had an accidental injury prior to your departure date, you may have to cancel your travel arrangements, resulting in financial losses. While disappointing, Trip Cancellation is doubly painful without cancellation insurance.

Uniworld permits cancellation for the following reasons:

• Your, your traveling companion’s or immediate family member’s unexpected illness, injury or death
• Traffic accident en route to departure
• Your home destroyed by a natural disaster
• Called into active duty by the military due to natural disaster
• Subpoena or called for jury duty
• Theft of passports or visas
• Job transfer of 250 miles or more
• Inclement weather, mechanical breakdown or strikes of an airline, cruise line, or a motor coach
• Terrorism occurs in city on itinerary within 30 days of your scheduled departure

We recommend policies that also include:

• Default or bankruptcy of the common carrier or travel supplier
• Mandatory evacuation

In addition, the Uniworld Travel Protection Plans will not repay you for bookings made outside Uniworld. It does not cover cancellation for your flight reservations made directly with the airline. Consequently, travelers face increased financial risk from this coverage gap.

Cancel For Any Reason

Cancel For Any Reason insurance provides the highest level of flexibility and reimbursement if you must cancel your trip for any reason not covered by the policy.

If you cancel your Uniworld cruise for a reason not listed in the Uniworld Protection Plus Plan, their Cancel For Any Reason benefit provides a 60% cash refund, 20% in future cruise credits and the remaining 20% is non-refundable.

These are the terms for Uniworld’s Cancel For Any Reason:

• Cancel 24 hours or more before departure
• Refund is 60% cash, 20% future credit and 20% non-refundable
• Credits expire after 2 years
• Not transferable

Alternatively, travel insurance policies like John Hancock Silver with Cancel for Any Reason included pay a 75% cash refund of all prepaid, non-refundable trip costs including arrangements made outside of Uniworld. This could include flights, hotels, rental cars, excursions, and transfers. When it comes to refunds, we always prefer cash since future credits may not be used.

Cancel For Any Reason policies have several stipulations:

1. Purchase the policy within 10 - 21 days (depending on policy), of your initial payment or deposit date and
2. Insure 100% of the prepaid trip costs subject to cancellation penalties or restrictions. For additional prepaid non-refundable payments made after the purchase of the policy, insure within 10-21 days (depending on policy), of each subsequent payment added to your trip, and
3. Cancel your trip 2 days or more before your scheduled departure date.

Photo by Kai Pilger from Pexels

Trip Interruption

A Trip Interruption is a situation during your trip that causes you to miss some or the rest of your vacation. It’s like Trip Cancellation but happens during your travels.

The most common trip interruption is the injury or illness of a traveler. If you had an injury or illness on your vacation but can continue traveling after treatment, trip interruption reimburses the unused portion of the trip, and the cost to rejoin the trip in progress.

Trip interruption also includes a family member who had a sudden grave illness or passed away. If your covered situation requires curtailing the trip and going home early, Trip Interruption also reimburses for the unused portion of the trip, plus the added cost of going home early.

In the Uniworld travel insurance policies, Trip Interruption benefits share the same list of covered reasons as Trip Cancellation. They cover up to 100% of the unused costs, plus up to an additional 50% to cover transportation costs to return home.

Travel insurance plans like the AIG Travel Guard Plus and the John Hancock Silver (CFAR 75%) also offer 150% of trip costs for interruption. In the same way, they cover up to 100% of the unused costs, plus up to an additional 50% to cover transportation costs to return home.

This benefit reimburses if you must cut your trip short due to a covered interruption reason. Most often, the unexpected injury, illness or death of a traveler or non-traveling family member triggers a trip interruption.

Here are a few more covered interruption reasons:

• Your, your traveling companion’s or immediate family member’s unexpected illness, injury or death
• Traffic accident en route to departure
• Your home destroyed by a natural disaster
• Called into active duty by the military due to natural disaster
• Subpoena or called for jury duty
• Theft of passports or visas
• Job transfer of 250 miles or more
• Inclement weather, mechanical breakdown or strikes of an airline, cruise line, or a motor coach
• Terrorism occurs in city on itinerary within 30 days of your scheduled departure

Medical Insurance for Emergency Treatment

One of the most important factors in selecting trip insurance is having adequate Medical Insurance when you travel. Anything can happen, including accidental injuries or sudden illness.

If you have a medical emergency when traveling and don’t have proper medical insurance coverage while overseas, you could find yourself with huge, unexpected hospital bills. Many Americans mistakenly believe countries with universal health care will treat them for free. Unfortunately, this is not the case.

Instead, Americans receive treatment at private hospitals, not public, and must pay like anyone else. Admission for inpatient care can cost $3,000-$4,000 per day, plus the cost of treatment, x-rays, surgeries, and specialists.

A common misconception is that Medicare will pay for hospitalization overseas.  Unfortunately, they won’t. Medicare does not pay providers outside the US. Some Medicare supplements do cover overseas, but have lifetime limits or reduced benefits, and pay for emergencies only. They can still require you to pay 20% of the costs. As a result, you could go on vacation and end up with medical bills in the thousands.

TravelDefenders  urges overseas travelers to take travel medical insurance of at least $100,000 per person. In a medical emergency, $100,000 provides ample health care and helps protect your retirement savings from unexpected financial burdens.

The Uniworld Protection plans only provide a $25,000 benefit for Medical Insurance. Both the AIG Travel Guard Plus and the John Hancock Silver (CFAR 75%) include $100,000 per person for medical coverage ($125,000 MORE than Uniworld), so you can receive proper treatment without ending up in debt.

Emergency Medical Evacuation

Medical Insurance isn’t the only potentially expensive part of a trip. Emergency Medical Evacuation transports you from the place of injury or illness to the closest hospital. Once you’re stable enough for transport, Medical Evacuation brings you home via commercial flight or, if necessary, private medical jet.

Medical flights can cost up to $25,000 per hour and regular health insurance does not cover it. In addition, the US State Department does not offer any medical treatment or evacuation assistance for US citizens. TravelDefenders advises travelers to get at least $250,000 Medical Evacuation if traveling close to the US and $500k or more if traveling to further locations such as Asia or Africa, to assure there’s enough coverage to get them back home from almost anywhere if they experience a serious medical event.

The Uniworld policies include $100,000 of Medical Evacuation coverage, which is better than many cruise lines but still provides less medical evacuation coverage than we recommend. The John Hancock Silver (CFAR 75%) provides $500,000 per traveler and the AIG Travel Guard Plus provides $1 million per traveler, so you can feel secure knowing you have adequate coverage to transport you back home if needed.

Pre-existing Medical Conditions

A significant concern for senior travelers can be pre-existing medical conditions. A Pre-Existing Medical Condition is one in which you’ve received medical treatment, testing, medication changes, added new medications, or received a recommendation for a treatment or test that hasn’t happened yet. Most travel insurance policies exclude pre-existing conditions unless you purchase the policy within the required time from your initial trip deposit date (called the Time Sensitive Period). Otherwise, the insurer will look backward 60, 90, or 180 days (depending on the policy) from the date you purchased the insurance to see if there are any pre-existing medical conditions they won’t cover. This is called the Look Back Period. Any medical conditions older than this Look Back Period, unchanged or stabilized with no medication dosage changes are covered, as are any new conditions that arise after you purchase the policy.

If you must cancel, interrupt, or seek medical treatment for a medical condition while traveling, travel insurance policies typically exclude claims related to Pre-existing Medical Conditions. However, if you purchase the policy within a few days of your Initial Trip Payment or Deposit date, many policies add a Waiver to the policy that covers Pre-existing Conditions. As a result, there is no Look Back Period and Pre-existing Conditions are covered.

Uniworld’s policies will cover Pre-Existing Conditions as long as you purchase the policy within 14 days of your initial trip payment or deposit date.

The John Hancock Silver (CFAR 75%) also gives you 14 days from the initial trip payment or deposit to purchase the policy to get the waiver while the AIG Travel Guard Plus gives you a generous 21 days to purchase the insurance to get the waiver.

Conclusion

Uniworld provides travelers with a minimal insurance policy for a fairly high cost that could leave travelers unpleasantly surprised during an emergency. Medical coverage is low at only $25,000 and their $100,000 for medical evacuation, while better than many cruise insurance policies, is still lower than our recommendation. Bankruptcy or insolvency of the carrier is specifically excluded which is concerning. Overall, we rate it a 6 out of 10.

Travelers planning a Uniworld Cruise will find the best value for their money and peace of mind when they shop for travel insurance at TravelDefenders Travel Insurance Marketplace.

There, you can review dozens of options and select the best policy to fit your needs.

To help you find the best policy, TravelDefenders recommends having at least $100,000 in travel medical coverage and $250,000 emergency medical evacuation when traveling within a few hours flight time of US borders and $500,000 or more for travel further afield. And, if you purchase the policy within the 14-21 days of initial trip payment, please consider a travel insurance policy with the pre-existing condition waiver included to ensure the most coverage for your money.

Have questions? We would love to hear from you. Send us a chat, Email or alternatively Call Us at +1(786) 321 3723.

Safe Travels!